Header image source | Mercedes-Benz official
Luxury attributes are both a burden and an advantage.
The Beijing Auto Show has been postponed, but the pace of car companies cannot stop.
On the evening of April 20, BMW's new pure electric 7 series - BMW i7 ushered in the debut.
Chiptzer, Chairman of the BMW Group, described "the BMW i7 as the strongest 7 Series, the latest example of BMW's successful development and determined electrification transformation".
According to official information, the BMW i7 is based on the upgraded new generation of CLAR architecture, equipped with the fifth generation of BMW Group electric drive system, the maximum power of 544 horsepower, equipped with a maximum capacity of 101.7kWh battery, with 625km of WLTP endurance.
Just a day ago, the Audi urbansphere concept car also ushered in the world debut, which is the largest of all audi concept cars to date, based on the PPE platform, equipped with Audi pure electric drive system, with a range of up to 750km.
The BBA seems to have made an appointment, and the rhythm of pushing new products is surprisingly consistent. On the same day, Mercedes-Benz's third model, the new EQS pure electric SUV, which is developed positively based on the pure electric platform, also made its world premiere.
BBA, which is a leader in the fuel vehicle market, is accelerating the pace of electrification.
At present, BBA has been left behind by New Talents such as Tesla and Weilai in China's new energy vehicle market. Therefore, it is difficult for century-old brands to sit back and relax.
"The first card of the BBA has been completed, and in the 100th meter of the marathon, NIO is running in a relatively advanced position," qin Lihong, president of NIO Automobile, believes that in the new smart electric vehicle track, NIO has achieved some first-mover advantages.
According to the terminal retail data released by the China Automobile Center, in March this year, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi sold more than 300,000 high-end pure electric vehicles of more than 3,123 units, 1,199 vehicles and 116 vehicles, respectively. The sales volume of NIO has reached 9829 vehicles, which has exceeded the sum of the three BBA companies.
The transformation is imminent, and now that the new forces of car manufacturing are forced into corners, how should the BBA fight back and apply the advantages of fuel vehicles to the new position?
The BBA's new hole card
Dragging BBA 100 meters behind is the transitional products launched in the early stage of transformation.
At the beginning, BBA's electrification strategy was relatively conservative, in order to keep up with the pace of electrification as quickly as possible, BBA launched a lot of "oil to electricity" products, which was criticized. Whether it is the mileage or the level of intelligence, compared with Tesla, Wei Xiaoli and other new car-making forces, they are not satisfactory, such as Audi e-tron, Mercedes-Benz EQC, BMW iX3 have not been recognized by consumers, and sales performance is flat.
In the face of Tesla's strong offensive, the BBA can not sit still, collectively launched flagship new energy products, whether it is Audi's urbansphere concept car, or BMW i7, Mercedes-Benz EQS pure electric SUV, all represent the standards of the three luxury brands to customize luxury electric vehicles.
Source: Audi Official
At the launch of the world premiere of the Audi urbansphere concept car, Dr. Wen Zeyue, president of Audi China, called the concept car the "core of Audi China's enterprising 2030 strategy".
Bidding farewell to the "oil to electricity" model, the urbansphere concept car is based on Audi's latest high-end pure electric PPE platform, using 800 volt charging technology and equipped with Audi pure electric drive system, and the WLTP mileage is expected to reach 750km.
The urbansphere concept car is defined by Audi as an "L4 level self-driving car", in the L4 level automatic driving mode, the steering wheel and pedals of the urbansphere concept car can be hidden, and the interior of the car will become a mobile interactive experience space.
Audi officials revealed that the urbansphere concept car is the first concept model with audi China design team independently responsible for interior design. It can be seen that the status of the Chinese design team within Audi has improved.
"Considering that the design should have family heritage, usually the appearance and interior of the models of overseas car companies are dominated by their local teams, and then fine-tuned by Chinese designers after entering the Chinese market." Designers of joint venture car companies believe that Audi can fully delegate the interior design to the Chinese design team this time, which is not easy, which shows that Audi attaches great importance to the Chinese market. "Compared with overseas designers, Chinese designers are more able to reflect the beauty of Chinese culture in their products and conform to the aesthetics of Chinese consumers."
At the same time, audi's R&D center in China is currently audi's largest R&D entity with end-to-end development capabilities outside of its headquarters in Germany. It is believed that in the future, Audi will create more new energy models for the Chinese market.
Unlike the Audi urbansphere concept car, which is dominated by intelligence, Mercedes-Benz still puts the sense of luxury in the first place. The Mercedes-Benz EQS Pure Electric SUV is the third model of the Mercedes-EQ brand based on the forward development of the EVA pure electric platform, as the flagship SUV of the current EQ family, the EQS pure electric SUV represents The latest understanding of Mercedes-Benz on luxury electric vehicles.
The new EQS pure electric SUV continues the digital cockpit design, with MBUX super-screen as the core of the interior, supplemented by many exclusive materials and innovative processes, presenting a luxurious cockpit atmosphere. In addition, the new EQS pure electric SUV is the first model of the Mercedes-Benz brand to be equipped with the Dolby Atmos system, which creates a multidimensional sound range covering 360 degrees compared to the traditional stereo left and right channels. Such a sound configuration is at the top of the list even among luxury brands. The car is equipped with a lithium-ion battery with 12 built-in modules, a capacity of up to 107.8kWh, and a cruising range of up to 660km under WLTP conditions.
However, in the field of intelligence, EQS pure electric SUVs are still somewhat conservative. The intelligent driving assistance components of this car include intelligent pilot distance limiting function, active blind spot assist system and disembarkation safety warning function, active lane keeping assist system, etc., which are basically L2 level.
Chiptzer, chairman of the BMW Group, called the BMW i7 a model that "will push BMW electric models to new heights."
In contrast, the level of intelligence of the BMW i7 is indeed a little ahead. Its biggest highlight is a 31-inch "big TV" in the back row, with an ultra-wide ratio of 32:9 and a resolution of up to 8K.
The interior cockpit is equipped with a driver's eye surveillance camera, which can monitor the driver's status in real time. The front windshield is also equipped with high-resolution cameras and multiple millimeter-wave radars to achieve driver assistance functions such as lane keeping, blind spot warning, automatic lane change, and automatic parking.
According to BMW's official information, the BMW i7 uses an advanced computing platform and intelligent equipment, and has the level of L3 automatic driving at the technical level.
Rushing to intellectualization equals self-destruction?
With this round of offensive, can the BBA chase the 100 meters after the fall?
Chen Guangzu, an expert in the automobile industry, believes that the three flagship pure electric models appeared, and the BBA seemed to be full of momentum, but in a short period of time, it was still impossible to go head-to-head with new forces such as Tesla.
From a technical point of view, the new products launched by the BBA this round do jump out of the old routine of "oil to electricity", but its design focus is still on how to create a sense of luxury atmosphere, which may not work in the era of electrification.
Some insiders believe that in the era of fuel vehicles, BBA relies on luxurious materials, workmanship, powertrain and control advantages to obtain high premium capabilities, and consumers are willing to pay. Entering the era of electrification, consumer car purchase standards have changed to battery life and intelligence, and the acceptance of new brands has increased, and the advantages of BBA have disappeared.
In contrast, the "Teslas" who have sprung up, or through visual perception schemes, or through the addition of lidar, continue to improve the ability of automatic driving. The level of autonomous driving of MODELS such as NIO ET7 and WM M7 has reached L4 level.
NIO ET7 Source: Visual China
The Mercedes-Benz EQS pure electric SUV and BMW i7 automatic driving system is still stuck at the L2-L3 level, although Audi claims that the urbansphere concept car can reach L4 level, but as a concept car, urbansphere can not land in a short period of time, is still in the "pie" stage.
In terms of the most core intelligent driving technology, the BBA is a long way behind.
However, Chen Guangzu believes that creating a sense of luxury is the only way for BBA to transform into electrification. "The price of mercedes-Benz EQS pure electric SUV and BMW i7 will probably be in the million level, and naturally it cannot be taken." Its main task is still to set up a luxury banner for the brand in the field of electric power. ”
In Chen Guangzu's view, the sense of luxury is a burden in the process of BBA transformation, but it is also an advantage that it needs to maintain in the era of pure electric. With the support of financial capital, BBA can quickly make up for the shortcomings of intelligence. However, the pace of intelligent advancement is too fast, it is easy to strengthen its scientific and technological attributes, and between this and the other, the luxury attributes created by BBA for many years will be weakened.
"Luxury attributes are weakened, intelligent technology attributes are difficult to compete with tesla and other new forces, rushing to promote intelligence is tantamount to a devastating blow to the BBA." Chen Guangzu analyzed.
But before crossing the river, no one knows how deep the water is. The road can only be explored by the BBA itself.
In the face of future competition, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi have shown a firm determination to transform. Mercedes-Benz said that by 2025, it will release three pure electric model architecture platforms and will build 8-seat battery factories with partners; by 2030, it will invest more than 40 billion euros to compete with Tesla in the pure electric vehicle market and maintain its position in the field of luxury electric vehicles.
Audi CFO Arno Antlitz also said that Audi will invest 35 billion euros in electrification and digitalization over five years, of which 17 billion euros will be used for future technology research and development. The BMW Group plans to continue to invest more than 30 billion euros in the research and development of new energy technologies and continue to increase the electrification transformation.
The author | Su Peng
Edit the | Li Huanhuan